The existing electronic lighters are a kind of electronic ignition device that uses an inflammable gas such as butane or natural gas as fuel. Such a lighter includes a casing, a fuel tank in the casing, a piezoelectric assembly, a gas emitting assembly and a windshield over the gas emitting assembly. The gas emitting assembly includes a gas emitting nozzle, a gas emitting valve and a flame-adjusting ring. The piezoelectric assembly includes a piezoelectric element, a piezoelectric push rod and a button. A linkage pry board is disposed between the gas emitting assembly and the piezoelectric assembly. The operation principle is as follows: by pressing downwards the button with your thumb, the button or a connecting member substantially vertical to the button pushes the piezoelectric push rod to strike against the piezoelectric element which then generates voltage, and at the same time, the button also pushes the linkage pry board to open the gas emitting valve, whereby the gas is lighted up. Because the button acts directly on the upper end of the piezoelectric push rod, it needs to apply a larger external force to push the button. Therefore, it is laborious to operate the currently available lighters.
As shown in FIG. 1, the currently available lighters are in a straight-log structure, and their major shortcoming is that the piezoelectric switch 7′ and the lighter button 1′ are relatively fixed, therefore, it needs a relatively stronger force to press the button 1′. The working force of the electronic (piezoelectric) lighter is about 2 kg˜2.5 kg. Therefore, the acting force on the button 1′ should be over 2.5 kg in order to light up the electronic lighter. That's why it is generally believed that the currently available piezoelectric lighters are hard to operate and are not dexterous for lighting-up. It is impossible to reduce the force needed to press the button of the currently available piezoelectric lighters because of their structure constraints.
Besides, the above-mentioned lighters do not have any safety assembly, and there is no restriction of downwards pressing the button. The lighter is very likely ignited when the button is accidentally pressed in children's play or struck by a hard object accidentally, which will do harm to children or even threaten the public security. Further more, when the button is accidentally pressed by an external force, the gas emitting valve is opens and the inflammable gas leaks. This is a potential safety hazard, though it might not cause a flame appear. Therefore, it is clearly prohibited in some regions and countries to manufacture and sell the lighters without a safety device.